TDP to field candidates in Odisha, banks upon Telugu voters

Bhubaneswar: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by N. Chandrababu Naidu will field candidates in Odisha in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Party in-charge of the state unit Rajesh Putra revealed that the TDP will field candidates in 52 Assembly constituencies and five Lok Sabha seats in the state.

He said these constituencies lie mostly in the six southern districts of Odisha. Putra said the TDP has a stronghold in these constituencies.

Sources said that the party is heavily banking upon the language based vote bank in southern Odisha. The TDP party functionaries are of the view that the dense population of Telugu people in these areas might be beneficial to the party.

The Odisha unit party in-charge said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has decided to project party candidates during the coming elections.

Putra said the party is focusing on assembly and Lok Sabha seats in the undivided Koraput and Ganjam districts.

These areas have a sizeable Telugu-speaking population. We have decided to field our candidates to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Koraput, Nabarangpur, Berhampur and Aska constituencies, he said.

Putra said his party is also trying to field candidates in the coastal belts of the state, but added his party supremo Chandrababu Naidu will announce the name of the candidates very soon.